Consultant Bernie Heer has posted an intriguing article outlining nine possible reasons businesses fail to grow. While his focus is on residential contractors, a lot of what he says applies in the overall architectural, engineering and design world.
He argues some fundamentals: Businesses cannot grow unless they are client-centric, but equally, they need to be profitable enough and this can only happen if the fees charged are high enough to pay for the successful operations (and hiring of high quality employees). And you can’t go far without some forward-thinking marketing investments.
He writes:
You?re more in love with the past than you are with the future.
The trades have a long and honorable tradition, there?s no question about that.? It seems that craftsmen of ages past had a way of life with deep and enduring gratification, grown out of knowledge, ability, and success.
What I hear very often is that contractors want their work to speak for itself.? In other words, since they do great work, people should come to them.? They?re more in love with the past than they are with the future.
That?s simply not a realistic view of the world today.? I think we?d all like to rewind the clock to a simpler time, but it?s a fantasy that?s never going to come true.
If your business is set up for 1950 ? or even 2012 ? the likelihood is that the end is near for you.
I’ll let you read the rest of his ideas directly.?
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